Monster Jeans

My boy are rough on the knees of jeans, wearing through them far before they outgrow them. I’ve seen cute ideas on Pinterest (like this one) for patching holey knees, but in reality, my sewing skills are mediocre at best. And I detest hand sewing. So here’s a Creative Solution is for a boy-friendly No-Sew Patch that we affectionately call Monster Jeans.

Materials Needed:

Heat-N-Bond (iron-on adhesive) which can be found in the Notions aisle of a fabric store

Red material for the patch; I use felt because it’s inexpensive, thick(ish) and feels soft(ish) on the kids’ knees.

2. Cut a square-ish fabric patch that has at least a 1″ perimeter larger than the hole. (Why? Look at step 3.)

3. Cut enough Heat-N-Bond to create a perimeter around the patch. Pro Tip: You don’t want the glue from the Heat-N-Bond to be on top of the hole… only around it.Otherwise it gets messy, since the glue will stick through the hole to the “right side” of the jeans.

I can usually find Heat-N-Bond in two widths… I didn’t have any of the thinner 3/8″ width handy, so I just cut the 7/8″ in half when I made my perimeter.

4. Flip the patch, carefully placing the Heat-n-Bond strips around the hole, and iron. The Heat-n-Bond directions say to use your iron on the steam setting. Do that.

5. Let the patch cool… I usually do several pairs of pants at once, so this is the time to repeat steps 1-4 with the other pairs.

6. Turn the pants/jeans right side out and use either a small scissors or seam ripper to cut away the white fringe… possibly making the hole a little bit bigger so that the red is exposed.

7. Paint the whites of the eyes. If you don’t have fabric paint, you can just use acrylic… it may fade/chip over time, or it may not. I have the fabric paint handy, so it was no big deal to use that.

8. Let the white paint dry. Don’t be impatient; they will smudge if they aren’t dry (don’t ask me how I know this). Then go back and dot your eyes in black or blue or whatever color your Monster wants to have.

9. The first time I did these, I used Fray Check around the mouth so it wouldn’t get all frayed… but the whites of the jeans end up looking like Monster teeth, and they really don’t fray all that horribly… so don’t worry about it. Use it or don’t… it’s optional!

10. Let the paint fully dry (overnight is best, so it sets really well) before letting your kid wear it. Wash the jeans as you normally would. Feel free to add more patches as needed.